What's wrong with this picture?

[Danscraftbeer]

yeah but its supposed to be weld less.

 

[mofox1]

Thread tape? I ended up using the good stuff:
http://www.selleys.com.au/trade/building-products/silicone-sealants/silicone-401-rtv/

Had no end of trouble getting this to seal properly. Why you would use a tapered thread thru a pot wall is beyond me.

 

[brianman]

Weldless yes, into a female tapered thread, so sold for the wrong purpose.

 

[Hpal]

You are using the wrong thread for the application, it's not the tapered thread's fault.

 

[Quokka42]

It's an American standard plumbing thread - great if you have the correct bottoming tap and are fitting to a cast part (theoretically no tape or sealant needed, but it's a good idea.) Why do Americans persist with the archaic Imperial system at all? Why do they elect B grade actors and reality stars as President? Why do they think burnt coffee in a cup of frothy milk and sugar is good? Who understands them at all?

Throw it out and buy the right part for the job. They are easy to come by and relatively cheap.

[BTW - in answer to the original question, the answer is poor lighting - you need a diffused source behind the camera to pick up the detail.]

 

[Camo6]

A tapered male thread doesn't need a tapered female thread to seal. It will seal into a parallel thread via an interference fit. But selling a tapered thread thermowell as a weldless fitting is pretty shitty. I'm pretty sure I've had to do the same on my rig. Open up the washer to fit the thermowell, an internal washer and nut, lots of thread tape.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

American? Surely its Chinese.

 

[Quokka42]

It's sure to be made in China or Mexico, but it's an American thread style. I admit that in the application I am familiar with it from - plugging oil galleries in VW engine cases - it makes sense as the plugs can go straight into the block without tape or sealants, which back in the day couldn't handle the hot oil for extended periods. These days you can pick up silicon o-rings or washers at the corner store, so it has no place in the modern food industry.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Thread tape? I ended up using the good stuff:
http://www.selleys.com.au/trade/building-products/silicone-sealants/silicone-401-rtv/

Had no end of trouble getting this to seal properly. Why you would use a tapered thread thru a pot wall is beyond me.

I've used this for many things in brewing and aquaponics and electronics to seal wire connections and stuff. Is good stuff.

https://www.jaycar.com.au/self-amalgamating-tape-10m-nitto/p/NM2826

 

[Danscraftbeer]

It's sure to be made in China or Mexico, but it's an American thread style. I admit that in the application I am familiar with it from - plugging oil galleries in VW engine cases - it makes sense as the plugs can go straight into the block without tape or sealants, which back in the day couldn't handle the hot oil for extended periods. These days you can pick up silicon o-rings or washers at the corner store, so it has no place in the modern food industry.

Yeah and also giving Americans some credit on being the original designers they would have the necessary parts (washers needed) and instructions to make it work properly without fail! but it would probably cost twice the price.

 

[TheWiggman]

American fitting? It's BSP - British Standard Pipe. I don't understand the negativity, it's an internationally recognised thread for pipe fittings that is synonymous with pipes worldwide, both in home and industry (well only where pipes are involved, so wherever you might need water i.e. everywhere). NPT is US. I'm the biggest metric advocate alive but pipe standards is just something I tolerate. At least you know when you get two pipe items the same size, the threads will fit.
Thermowells typically have tapered threads on them because most fittings are tapered because it seals better. I have them on my system, and where I'm going through a hole in a vessel I put a nut on each side of the pot with an O-ring each and plenty of thread tape. No issues.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

The negativity is that its sold as a weldless product that wont work out of the box. Unless the buyer goes through the fiddly part of finding, or home making the extra components needed to actually make it work... I can do that but its such a farkin annoyance sometimes yuno it means that easy 30minute job ends up being a 90 minute+ job and that's with the right tools on hand with an assortment of materials on hand to utilize. If not its can be a 3 hour + 3 day + job.
Fitting my thermowell (weldless) in a pressure fermenter for the temp control probe was worse but its once finally done its good for long time.

 

[ein stein]

You gotta think that it is strange that a well known supplier of brewing equipment and fittings is supplying an incompatible nut/washer and thread combination packaged together. I bought it because I assumed a weldless thermometer should be idiot-proof. Before today I didn't even consider that there would be 2 kinds of BSP. Given most homebrewers are using these things for low pressure applications.
i think they either:
1) Re-purposed an existing design, packaged it with their branding and an incompatible nut
or
2) they didnt even specify which BSP thread was need to the chinese/mexican/american? manufacturer and ended up with a bunch of badly design thermometers.

Either way, after I email the supplier tomorrow and hear back from them I will probably just bust out my vintage era, inherited hand file and teflon thread tape and make it fit.

 

[Quokka42]

OK, it was originally British, but so was the rest of the Imperial system (except volumetric measurements they altered to rip off the Redcoats...) But I don't think any civilised country persists with it, so you can hardly blame the manufacturer for not understanding.

The BSP tapered thread was never meant to be fitted to such a thin wall and any solution is going to be a compromise. As I mentioned earlier, it was intended to work with cast parts or pipes.If you were an American you would probably TIG a bung onto it, tap the appropriate thread, and accept it as a perfect "weldless" fitting! Or maybe I've just watched too many American cable TV shows... Most of what I see on their automotive/bike/engineering shows would have you taken out and shot here.

(If you want to use it "correctly," I probably have a tap to suit.)

 

[TheWiggman]

Some more detail would be nice, I'm trying to be helpful. I'm guessing you bought a Keg King thermometer which is packaged with 2 silicone washers, a metal washer and a nut. All examples of 'weldless' thermometers for brewing that I have seen have a tapered thread - simple as that. If you complain to your supplier about the type of thread it has they might be nice enough to offer you a refund, but unless you go a different design like this one from Mash Master you don't have any other options. I'm sure countless quantities of these have been sold and all these brewers managed to fit them to their system. Perhaps you should show us what you have and how to fit it rather than challenging the thread type.
Now if the washer doesn't slip all the way to the base of the thread that's a different story. In this case the washer is undersized and you could either open it like you mentioned or go back to the shop and swap over. In any case you will be getting a tapered thread which is fine, and has been fine for everyone else who bought and installed one. If you don't want that but still want weldless, shell out for a Mash Master. The thread type is not the problem.

 

[good4whatAlesU]

You gotta think that it is strange that a well known supplier of brewing equipment and fittings is supplying an incompatible nut/washer and thread combination packaged together. I bought it because I assumed a weldless thermometer should be idiot-proof. Before today I didn't even consider that there would be 2 kinds of BSP. Given most homebrewers are using these things for low pressure applications.
i think they either:
1) Re-purposed an existing design, packaged it with their branding and an incompatible nut
or
2) they didnt even specify which BSP thread was need to the chinese/mexican/american? manufacturer and ended up with a bunch of badly design thermometers.
Either way, after I email the supplier tomorrow and hear back from them I will probably just bust out my vintage era, inherited hand file and teflon thread tape and make it fit.

Yes. Most annoying when stuff arrives and you can't use it out of the box because the supplier omitted a small but critical component. Bad for business.

 

[MHB]

Link to what you bought, its fine to have a good whinge or vent ones opinions but in fairness I think showing what you ordered and how it was described is only fair.
Mark

 

[ein stein]

It's a Keg King as some have already guessed.

I filed out a couple of stainless M20 flat washers then sit at the base of the thread against the shoulder, along with a silicon washer and supplied washer on the inside it makes reasonably snug fit. I haven't leak tested it yet but anyway... I still think it is still a poor design.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Nah. Its all good. This is home brewing. Its a learning experience on multiple levels.

 

[klangers]

Strictly speaking, the probe shouldn't be going directly into your pot anyhow. Best practise would be to put a thermowell in, then put the probe in the thermowell.

You should use one of those bulkhead fittings, then the tapered thread will be in the right application and happy: